MS Awareness Week

This week is MS Awareness Week, 7 days acknowledging an illness that affects 100,000 people in the UK.

 MS (Multiple Sclerosis) is an inflammatory disease in which a substance called myelin, which protects the nerve fibres in the central nervous system, is damaged.

Your immune system, which normally helps to fight off infections, mistakes myelin for a foreign body and attacks it.

This damages the myelin and strips it off the nerve fibres, either partially or completely, leaving scars known as lesions or plaques.

MS typically affects young adults but the age of sufferers can range. It is more common in women than men and includes various symptoms.

A person with MS can suffer almost any neurological symptom or sign, including changes in sensation, muscle weakness and spasms, difficulties with moving, coordination and balance, problems in speech or swallowing, visual problems, fatigue, and bladder and bowel difficulties.

MS can make the smallest of tasks a huge struggle, severely affecting a sufferer’s quality of life.

 

Michelle Obama admitted her dad was diagnosed with MS in his thirties

 

Bowen Therapy is known for its healing qualities and has had amazing results with MS sufferers.

The Bowen Technique is a natural, drug-free, non-invasive, complementary therapy that can also help people with MS.

Rather than 'making' the body change, Bowen 'asks' the body to recognise the ailment and make the changes it requires.

During the 30-60 minute treatment, the Bowen practitioner makes small, rolling movements over muscles, tendons, ligaments and soft tissue at precise points on the body, using only the amount of pressure appropriate for that individual.

 

No hard-tissue manipulation or force is needed or used.

Between each set of moves, the body is allowed to rest for a few minutes, to allow it to absorb the information it has received and initiate the healing process.

One client with MS who used Bowen to manage her symptoms said: “I discovered Bowen therapy during my last M.S. episode. 

“This was a particularly bad episode and I have been treated with steroids. 

“Unfortunately I had a lot of the side effects from the steroids and consequently I felt worse. 

“I had great difficulty walking; my energy levels on a scale of 1 to 10 were about 4. 

“My hands and arms were affected with lots of muscle spasms, which meant I was unable to write, sew or feed myself. 

“Although I have a positive outlook, all the above symptoms eventually got me down and I became quite depressed.

“Twenty four hours after my first Bowen therapy session I felt so much better.

“By my fourth session the spasms in my arms and hands had almost disappeared, my energy level had risen to an 8 and I walked for a whole shopping trip around Sainsbury’s. 

“I felt almost back to normal.  I have Bowen sessions every three to four weeks and am able to live life to the full and to continue with my quilt making and baking.”

 

 

If you suffer from MS, or know somebody that does, see if Bowen could help you. Find a qualified Bowen practitioner near to you by visiting www.bowentherapy.org.uk or call 0844 561 7173.